I Wannabe A Rockstar!

Today I saw the rise and fall of a rockstar. In a matter of two hours. Right before my eyes.

It was during a 'Satsang' organized at my place. A particularly north-Indian affair, those who aren't acquainted with the idea, please have a look at this clip from Delhi-6.

So, the mandap was in its place. The dhols were set. The sweets were brought and arrangements were made for the kids to ensure that they do not disturb this mind-blowing, once-in-a-lifetime performance. The amplifiers were ready to accentuate the loud wailing, err, singing by some of the most killer aunties of my building and the stage was set for an epic showdown of the most screechy, loud vocals the human brain can possibly comprehend.

Slowly the crowd started pouring in. What initially started out as a meek Silk Route concert slowly gained momentum and reached Iron Maiden proportions in no time.

The opening act was by one of the meeker aunties, who was a little conscious about her vocal abilities. Obviously the stage does not appreciate consciousness and hence she received a weak response from the crowd.


The next aunty to take centre stage was more aggressive in her approach. She started with a crowd friendly, tuned-to-a-hit-bollywood-number bhajan which got the crowd on its feet, making even my eighty year old neighbour do a little chiggy-wiggy. Moreover this singer was also lavish with her "Jai Mata Ki" chants, which obviously struck a chord with the crowd. I could almost see Mexican waves around the hall and we had a full house on our hands.

The next singer, before beginning her act, stood up, bowed to the crowd and without any signal, started dancing. The dholwala, who's obviously been to a lot of such performances, joined in and gave a beat which would even bring back Michael Jackson for a little moonwalk. R.I.P Michael.

One has to be at such places to fully understand and soak in the awesomeness of it.

Just when I thought it couldn't get more epic, He walked in. Dressed completely in white, snazzy overalls, with a smile that would put most supermodels to shame, he took centre stage and with a small shake of his head made all the women swoon and all the men jealous. He snatched the mike from the singer, who most willingly obliged and we were witness to a performance most people would kill for.

He was my cousin's two and a half year old son. We've all heard that the world is a stage, and we're all actors. But he took it very, very seriously. Within a period of few minutes, he had the audience eating out of his hand. Everyone was hooked and they just couldn't get enough. It was amusing and wonderful at the same time. He was dancing to the beats, miming the song, although I still fail to see what he understood. He even had the audacity to pull a two year old girl sitting nearby, to stand up and dance with him. She wasn't interested, and that is when I realized how some things just run in the family.

For those moments, he was a rockstar with the audience going crazy after every move that he made. He acted like one too. He enjoyed the adulation and the adoring looks. He started picking up flowers from a basket nearby and started offering them to the Goddess idols and the crowd loved it.

However, just like any other rockstar, the fame got to his head. The once blue-eyed boy started to repeat his movements. What once drew an enthusiastic cheer from the crowd could only manage a few sympathetic claps. He tried to get his game back on, but it was too little and too late.

This obviously did not go down too well with him, and he got a little out of control, just like any other rockstar. He started doing abysmal moves. The flowers he once offered to the Goddess; he now began to throw and hit the audience with them.

This was where the crowd snapped. Just like any other has-been rockstar, he was booed and carried away from the stage. Just like any other rockstar, he fought until he was carried away forcefully.

Today I saw the rise and fall of a rockstar. In a matter of two hours. Right before my eyes.